


The Hunter

by MimiTheGamine



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-01 05:57:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15768000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MimiTheGamine/pseuds/MimiTheGamine
Summary: Few Months after Lane failed to kidnap Ethan Hunt's niece in Las Vegas, the man in glasses decides to hire Agent August Walker since he has the capabilities for this kind of Mission. This time it's a high-stakes game; involving serious risks if there is no success! Will Frankie be able to escape this time?





	1. Lane's call

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Left Behind](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8032387) by [MimiTheGamine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MimiTheGamine/pseuds/MimiTheGamine). 



Months had passed since he had to let go of Frankie at the McCarran International airport, in order to avoid getting caught by the FBI who had been aware of his presence in Clark County. Lane knew it wasn't yet over with her, and that one day he'd get his hands on her, only to get his revenge on Ethan Hunt and his team. Of course, he could've gone after Julia and destroy Ethan as well, but he knew the wound would be deeper by hurting someone that he was related to. Someone, he was considering like his daughter...

Little Frankie had disappeared completely from Las Vegas and had been located recently in a small town in the state of Maryland, living with Luther Stickell himself. This last one had decided to retire from work after a serious injury and Ethan probably had the idea of asking Luther to protect Frankie, who just couldn't stay by herself after Lane had tried to abduct her in Las Vegas.

Solomon couldn't come back to the United States yet, and he knew that even though he was far away from her, he'd still get her whatever it would cost him. When he heard that Agent Walker was off for two months during the summer due to a Conflict with the CIA director; Erika Sloane, he began to examine the possibilities that August could be the one going after Frankie Hunt. The fact that he was an agent that possessed a higher intelligence than most men Lane had worked with, Solomon understood quickly that Walker wouldn't have any trouble finding Frankie and delivering her to him.

He scrubbed his chin before gently pressing his fingers against the screen of his HP Laptop, his blue eyes gazing at the picture of the young woman displayed on the screen.

"I will get you Frankie, but this time I won't be the one running after you!" He smirked as if he had already captured the young woman...

He used a safe line for contacting Walker that was still sleeping when his smartphone awakened him from his deep sleep.

"I got a job for you Walker!" Even though he wasn't working directly with Walker, Lane knew exactly what the 40-year-old assassin was up to in Virginia. He caught the Agent sighing at the other end of the line.

"I'm offering you 500,000$ I think it could be quite enough, and quite frankly we all know that you're in deep trouble with Sloane, right Walker?"

"I'm in trouble because she does suspect me of working with another organization! She won't find anything on me Lane, I should be back to work in a few weeks..."

Lane adjusted his glasses on his nose before speaking back to Walker.

"Don't get too excited Walker, I could easily hint that director of yours in my direction. Now listen to me, the job I'm offering you is easy, and it pays well..."

Walker quickly interrupted Lane with another proposition.

"I want One million or else I'll just say no. I'm risking a lot of things in here and you know it, Lane!"

Lane narrowed his blue eyes when Walker became greedy. He closed his eyes for a moment, knowing well that his henchmen would fail miserably at kidnapping Frankie Hunt. A Woman Lane had underestimated in the past, Walker was the only one Lane could see as an option...

"Do I have the choice, Agent Walker? The job is simple... There's a young woman named Frankie Hunt, she lives in the state of Maryland, and I want you to kidnap her for me. Once you'll deliver me the girl, I'll pay you. I will give you 750,000$ and I will make sure that Erika finds nothing on you! You'll be reintegrated in the CIA immediately, but only if the job is done! No Frankie, no Money!"

The atmosphere became very silent when Lane waited for Walker to respond back to his offer.

"Ok, sounds fine to me! You still have a grudge against Ethan Hunt from what I see... Why don't you just go to him and get rid of him? Why kidnapping his niece?"

Lane deeply sighed before interrupting Walker.

"Because killing him wouldn't solve nothing! When I'll get my hands of his bloody niece, Ethan won't have the choice to crawl down to me on his knees and he'll beg me to release her! I'll be the one in control this time! He'll understand the meaning of suffering! Now, Your job is to bring me the girl, and I want her alive! After this, what will happen with her won't concern you, Agent Walker. Please, do tell me that you're capable of doing this mission? If it's too hard I'll hire someone else."

But Walker reassured Lane that he was capable of accomplishing this simple mission.

"That's what I wanted to hear. I'll send you the instructions in a secure email, once you'll have read it, it will delete itself... We're never too careful! the rest will be up to you Walker. Don't fail this, please!"

Lane than ended the conversation with Agent Walker, returning to his laptop to send the instructions to August through a Secure email system. Once the email had been seent, Lane shut the laptop off and gazed down at his watch, dinner time was approaching and he didn't know what kind of restaurant he'd go tonight; Sushi or Thai? He pushed his tongue against his cheek before grabbing his long black coat and headed outside of his Hotel Suite.


	2. Freedom

She wasn’t sure what to think of her new bathing suit, it didn’t look as great as it did when she saw it online. She sighed, wondering if she should have gone to the sports store instead of buying this one-piece swimsuit online. She grimaced while putting up the bathing suit over her clothes, checking her own reflection on the mirror in front of her.

“Yikes! It does look so cheap!” She said out loud before Luther knocked at her bedroom door.

“Yes?” She asked, almost annoyed by being disturbed. She caught Luther’s face peeking through her door before tossing the bathing suit on her bed.

“Sorry, am I disturbing you?” She just couldn’t say that he was bothering her, she was just pissed about the bathing suit she had received in the mail.

“It’s ok Luther, I was just checking out the bathing suit I ordered online a week ago.” She sighed again when she showed Luther the crappy bathing suit, Luther couldn’t help chuckling when he caught the view of the bathing suit.

“One thing is sure though, people will see you underwater!” She wasn’t surprised at all when Luther mentioned that people would see her underwater, the bathing suit was of a bright orange color and it was almost a shame to wear this. She couldn’t see herself going to the public pool wearing this atrocity… There was no way she would wear this, she wasn’t poor enough at that point.

“Looks like I will have to go to the sports store actually!” She tossed back the bathing suit on her bed and left her room to go downstairs.

“You’re going out?” Asked Luther after following her downstairs to the main entrance of the house.

“Yup…” She could feel the wary tone in his voice, and she knew what it meant… “I’ll be fine Luther, I’m just going to the shopping center and I’ll be back before dinner time… Alright?”

Luther placed his hands on his hips and he bit his lower lip.

“Alright, but I’m driving you, they announced a thunderstorm for tonight and I don’t want you on the road by yourself.”

Did she have a choice? Not really and she didn’t want to argue with Luther, she just wanted to find a goddam bathing suit in order to go swimming at the public pool in the neighborhood.

  
“Luther? I do appreciate everything you do for me, but I think I need some time with myself…”

She watched him passing a hand on his bald head, she knew he was worried and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her, but Frankie just couldn’t deal with having Luther following her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as if he was her babysitter. That was becoming infernal and Frankie just didn’t see herself enduring this forever.

“Frankie, you know that your uncle has asked me to protect you. I know I can be annoying sometimes, but don’t go thinking that you’re not in danger anymore. Lane is still out there and I know he’ll do everything in his power to get his revenge on your uncle. He didn’t get you in Las Vegas, but it doesn’t mean that next time he’ll fail, and I would really hate myself if Lane would end up kidnapping you again.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head in desperation.

“So, that means that next weekend, you’ll come with me at this Electronic and Dance festival in Washington? Please, tell me you will at least let me go, Luther, I got some friends from Las Vegas that are coming to join me in Washington, and I’d really love to be by myself, plus I’ll be surrounded by thousands of people, I won’t be in danger in there.”

The big man sat down on a chair near his entrance and looked up at Frankie with a sad gaze trapped in his dark eyes.

“Frankie, if only I could be sure that you’d be safe, I would let you go without any hesitations, Alas, your Uncle has asked me to protect you and he’d be pissed to know that I disobeyed him. Please don’t be mad at him, Ethan is a good friend of mine and you’re like his daughter to him… Never forget that! Now, come on, let’s go to the shopping center.”

She closed her mouth, almost clenching her teeth behind her seal lips. It has been almost 5 months since Lane had tried to kidnap her in Las Vegas, and Frankie could only dream of going back to Las Vegas, where she’d find a better job, and get back to the place she loved. Maryland wasn’t really the type of place that she was fond of. It was too peaceful, a small town where everybody knew each other, and to top it all she had no car, since she had left Las Vegas in a hurry, which left her with the obligation of asking Luther for a ride every time she wanted to go somewhere and to be honest, she was way too much independent to rely on a man like Luther.

“Nope, I think I’ll go another time, it’s almost 5 PM and the store will close in a few minutes. I wouldn’t want to get there and try a bathing suit in a hurry.”

She finally went back upstairs to her room and shut the door, wishing to be alone… Of course, Luther entered her bedroom to speak to her.

“Frankie, don’t make this harder than it is already!”

But the young woman had already opened her laptop, adjusting her earbuds before cranking up the music from her application. Ignoring Luther, even though she knew he was speaking to her. She decided to send an email to her ex-boyfriend Max, that’s how desperate she was… Rare were the occasions were Frankie was counting on someone from her past to rely on.

_**“Hi Max, this is Frankie, I know we haven’t spoken that much since that night I went to see you at the Mandalay Bay when you called the police because I was in danger. I’d like to come back to Las Vegas, but I have nowhere to go, would you accept to share your apartment with me for like a month?”** _

She could see Luther still standing under the doorframe, and she knew he wouldn’t leave until she’d speak to him. She pressed on the Send button to deliver the email to her ex-boyfriend.  
Luther then approached her and took off the earbuds from her ears, before sitting down at the end of her bed.

“Frankie, I know you hate it in here, and you hate the fact that I’m watching your every move, but there’s only one person you can blame and it’s not me!”

She didn’t know why Luther kept bringing this back, she knew Ethan was the one responsible for her pathetic condition right now. Well more like Lane...

“Yeah, yeah I know Luther, please stop pestering me with this. I know it’s not your fault… Just leave me alone right now, I wanna write a little before dinner time…”

She finally sighed in relief when Luther left her bedroom. Even though Luther was a good man, Frankie didn’t wish to spend more time at his place than she already did. She needed to be independent, she knew that her uncle just wanted to protect her, but if she was returning to Las Vegas with her ex, she felt that she would be safe as well...

She was on the verge to put back her earbuds in her ears when Frankie heard Luther speaking to someone on the phone in the backyard. She cautiously approached her bedroom window to spy on Luther.

"Ethan, I don't know how to tell you this, but Frankie isn't happy at all. I can see it and that just can't go like this forever, she's not a child anymore... She wants to return to Las Vegas, she even emailed her ex-boyfriend..."

She felt bad for Luther, she knew he wanted to help Ethan, and that there's nothing he could do apart protecting her.

"You'll have to explain Frankie what happened in Las Vegas, She has the right to know Ethan, if you don't do it, she could endanger herself..." Frankie walked away from the window when Luther ended his call with Ethan.

She still didn't know why this man had tried to kidnap her... But she kinda got the idea, she wasn't stupid and knew her uncle wasn't really having an 8 to 5 job... She returned to her desk in her bedroom and searched for something online, just as she was about to click on a link, Luther knocked on the door of her bedroom and she invited him inside.

"How about pizza for tonight, would you like to go to that new restaurant that opened last week? I heard their pizza is delicious!" He smiled to her, and Frankie couldn't help smiling back to him, he was such a good man. She knew that without him, it would've been harder to get back on her feet, especially since Lane had shot one of her feet, which required her a lot of physiotherapy classes.

"Yea, sounds great!!"

Luther was pleased and told her he'd wait for her downstairs while she'd get ready...


	3. A Night Like This

He opened the email sent by Lane after dressing up for the night with a pair of black pants and a black shirt covering his firm torso. He made sure to collect all the important details located in the email, knowing well that once he'd be done reading it, the email would self-destruct, erasing any information that could link him to Solomon Lane.

He didn't write down the information, but he learned by heart what he needed in order to fulfill his mission, which wouldn't be hard, thought Walker. 

He slid a hand through his thick wavy hair once he was done with inspecting the email. As he clicked on his inbox link, the email totally disappeared from his inbox, and wasn't as well in his mail system, as if it had never existed. He still couldn't believe that Lane was asking him to kidnap Ethan's niece... The only reason why Walker had accepted, it's only because it'd be easy and a way to earn money without really lifting a finger...

He entered the address given by Lane in his smartphone to locate Frankie Hunt. He knew as well from the email that Frankie was living with Luther Stickell, a man that was very close to Ethan Hunt, and Walker knew what it meant... If Ethan had sent Frankie with this man, it only meant that he trusted him enough to leave a relative of his. That was another issue, but not something that would stop Walker. He, of course, would need to get rid of Luther before approaching Frankie, she needed to be vulnerable in order to be an easy prey. 

The plan was simple for August, he'd prepare himself and he'd observe her from afar for several days to see what her routine looked like before hunting her. He wouldn't just go at her doorstep to snatch her, that just didn't work like this...

He climbed up the staircase and entered his bedroom to prepare his travel bag for his new mission. He made sure to pack the essential, not wanting to carry too much stuff. He also searched for a motel in the small town of Elkton and noted it in his smartphone once he found something that pleased him. He grabbed his travel bag and returned downstairs, making sure he had locked all the doors in his house. Once it was done, Walker did a last check up upstairs and downstairs before leaving his house, arming it and locking the main door before stepping in his black SUV. Good thing that the state of Maryland was not far from Virginia, the town of Elkton was only a 2 hours ride for Walker, which meant that he'd be there before midnight...

The weather wasn't very clement this Thursday evening in Elkton. Flashes of Lightning were tearing the sky apart, and the rain was falling heavy on the parked cars in front of the Motel's office. Walker quickly stepped out of his vehicle and ran toward the Motel's office to get a room for the night. When he entered the office, Walker caught the regard of the male receptionist who seemed to be playing games on his computer.

"Hi!" The man finally raised an eye in his direction.

"Yea? You want a room for the night?" Walker looked down at the man that was way smaller than him.

"Yes, a room for the night..."

The man nodded at him and told him the price for a night, which August agreed by paying with cash money.

"Fine, just sign down your name in the guest book, please!"

August cocked his head before grabbing the pen next to the guest book. With his right hand, Walker wrote down in the book before setting back his eyes on the man behind the counter.

"Alright, Mister Hunt? Here's your key, it will be room number 11, make sure to leave the room before noon tomorrow. Have a good night."

Walker nodded at the man and exited the motel's office, returning at his SUV to park it in front of his motel room. He then retrieved his travel bag from the back seat and locked his vehicle before entering the room he had rent for the night. He scrutinized the place of the motel and quickly realized it wasn't the Ritz Carlton, not that he cared, it wasn't the first time nor the last time Walker would sleep in a place less clean than his house. He shook his head before snorting, wondering what would Lane do with Ethan' niece... He knew that it was just a way to catch Ethan's attention in order to kill him, but would it work? Walker brushed this thought from his mind, as long as he'd be paid for this, he didn't care about the rest...

Knowing the motel wasn't far from Luther's house, Walker came up with the idea of going out and exploring the town of Elkton. He wanted to see and learn about this town in order to have a head start on Frankie... Obviously, the town was pretty calm since it was almost one in the morning, and with the stormy weather, Walker wasn't surprised at all by the quiet ambiance reigning in the small city. The rain had calmed down though and August could finally lower the intensity of the wiper on his windshield. He stopped at a red light before heading toward the street where Luther's residence was located. He could have easily parked his Range Rover few blocks from Luther's and walked down the sidewalk before entering in Luther's house, killing him with just a bullet and leaving with Frankie. But It wasn't just the way Walker worked, he was a meticulous agent, and he'd establish a plan before acting. He didn't care that Lane wanted Frankie rapidly, he'd get Frankie when Walker would decide it, not before...

He stayed parked nearby Luther's house for a good 20 minutes, only because there were lights in Luther's house, it did seem like the big man was still up at this late hour, he could see him walking back and forth through the living room windows. He couldn't comprehend why though. Walker's attention deviated from Luther's house when he spotted in his rearview mirror a young woman riding a BMX in the street. When she passed next to his vehicle, August did not recognize right away since she had an orange helmet on her head and to be honest he couldn't really see her face since it was so dark outside, but when the young woman quickly turned into Luther's driveway and took off her helmet from her head, Walker understood that he had just encountered little Frankie. He observed her carefully from afar as she pushed the red BMX into the bushes as if she was trying to hide the racing bike... He also realized that she had probably gone outside without Luther's authorization as he watched her entering by the basement window. He narrowed his blue eyes as a smirk formed on his lips. An idea had crossed his mind and he knew it would work at some point.

"Well, Well! Looks like it will be easy!" He kept his eyes glued to Luther's house, and caught a glimpse of Frankie speaking with Luther in the living room from his vehicle. Luther did seem to be quite angry with Frankie, he couldn't hear what he was saying to her, but it was obvious that he was pissed with her random runaway... 

The lights in the house got turned off a few minutes after Frankie's arrival, probably meaning that Luther got to bed, and Frankie as well. He was curious though to scrutinize more on Frankie's whereabouts, but he couldn't see her bedroom from his vehicle... 

"She shouldn't have left that bike outside!" Said, Walker, as he stepped out of his vehicle and discreetly approached Luther's house, headed toward the bushes to steal Frankie's BMX. He knew that she was probably using the bike as a way to transport herself since she didn't seem to have a car, at least this is what August had noticed as there was just one vehicle in Luther's driveway. It could have been Frankie's car, but he doubted a woman in her late 20's would have enough cash to own a 2018 Jeep Cherokee.

August grabbed the BMX and pulled it out from the bushes, rolling the small bike toward his SUV without being seen by anyone since it was the night and that most people on this street were asleep. He placed the BMX in the large trunk of the range rover and departed the street to return to his motel, where he'd elaborate a new plan to catch Frankie.


	4. Nightmare

"I just wanna sleep..." She mumbled while trying to open her eyes. She was still exhausted from her quarrel with Luther last night, and she needed to rest for another hour.

"Come on, it's almost noon and you're still in bed Frankie!"

She let out a groan as she turned herself on her stomach. She grimaced when she swallowed her saliva down her throat.

"Oh no..."

She exclaimed, giving up, knowing well that Luther wouldn't allow her to sleep like this during the whole day.

"Oh no, what?" Asked Luther, obviously not happy with the fact that she had stayed in bed during the whole morning.

"My throat hurts... I think I have a sore throat..." She turned herself on her back and finally open her eyes, realizing that the weather was indeed pleasant and warmer than last night.

"Well if you have a sore throat, you won't be able to go to that Electric Music festival."

She couldn't help rolling her eyes when Luther said Electric, instead of Electronic.

"It's Electronic, not Electric... Whatever, it's not as if you'd have let me go..." She tried to swallow once again, but it still hurt her as if she had gulped needles down her throat.

"Come on, get up and I'll prepare you some hot water with honey, it should help you. You'll be back on your feet in no time, it's not a little sore throat that will stop you..."

She sat up in her bed and watched him exiting her room. Every time she got sick, it was starting with a sore throat and would turn into a nasty tonsillitis. She knew she should have consulted a doctor about her recurrent tonsillitis happening at least five times a year, which was becoming really annoying.

She pushed away the warm blanket from her body and realized that the air in the house was colder than it should've been. She shivered and hesitated to leave her bed, knowing well what was going on.

"Oh shit must be from last night..." She shook her head and decided to return under the cover, where she rapidly shut her eyes and went back to sleep even if Luther had asked her to get up. She didn't feel good and would stay in bed for sure, she didn't care about Luther and his hot water mixed with honey. She was hoping it was just a mere fever, not the kind of fever where a cold bath would be required to lower down the temperature of her body.

Even though Luther wanted her up and ready for the afternoon, he decided to let her sleep. While she was asleep, she wasn't causing him any troubles. He didn't really know what to do with her at this point, he didn't have children of his own, and Frankie was having a hell of a temper which was something Luther hadn't been ready to deal with. He couldn't blame her though, she was as stubborn as Ethan and quite of a strong nature. She was doing whatever she wanted and whenever she wanted, and he was aware that Frankie disliked being protected of that sort. She wanted her freedom back, but Luther had promised Ethan to care for Frankie until they would catch Lane. That's why Ethan was out on a mission, his team was on its way searching for Lane in Europe. Lane had attacked Frankie, and that's something Ethan hadn't accepted at all!

It was almost 4 PM when Luther heard Frankie screaming on the tops of her lungs upstairs. He rushed himself to her bedroom to check her, he thought for sure that something bad had happened to her until he entered her bedroom and observed that she was in tears.

"He's here!! He's here!!" She was sobbing loudly, and Luther didn't understand what she was talking about, he even turned on the light to have a better look at her bedroom, he even opened the closet, but to no avail, there was nobody in her bedroom aside from him and her.

"Who's here Frankie??" His brown eyes widened at her, waiting for an explanation.

"He was here, in my dream..." She clarified to Luther while drying her tears.

"Was it Lane again? Another nightmare about Lane?" She nodded her head and Luther loudly sighed through his nostrils. He placed his huge hands on his hips before getting closer to Frankie.

"That's just a bad nightmare, Frankie, it's ok now I'm here!" He bent down to the young woman and without warning him, Frankie wrapped her arms around Luther, in the need of being consoled. When she leaned her head against his shoulder, Luther felt the warm touch of her forehead against his dark skin since he was wearing a tank top.

"Geez, did you sleep under the cover??" He pushed her away from him and brought his hand to her forehead to check if she was feverish.

"You're boiling hot!!" He looked at her as if he was waiting for her to say something, but she was obviously shaken by her nightmare and wasn't really yet fully awake.

"Hold on!" Luther stood back to his full height and retrieved a digital thermometer. He came back to Frankie and asked her to open her mouth.

"Keep it under your tongue, I'm pretty sure you caught something. You were drenched last night when you arrived..." While Frankie kept the tip of the thermometer under her tongue, Luther noticed that the back of her grey t-shirt had a spot of sweat. He once again touched her flushed skin on her face and he knew that she was sick. He could see it in her pale blue eyes. The digital thermometer finally beeped, displaying the body temperature of Frankie on the small digital screen. Luther removed it from her mouth and looked down at the number with a perplexed look.

"101 Farheneit! I don't like it at all. I will give you some Ibuprofen and you'll get more rest but without the cover this time. Your temperature has to lower down Frankie." Of course, she didn't listen to Luther, he caught her going back to sleep and pulling the blanket over her frailed silhouette.

"I knew you wouldn't listen to me!" He removed the blanket from her and Frankie obviously cried to get her blanket back.

"But I'm so cold!!! Give me back the blanket, I will just cover my legs, please!"

Even though she was hard to resist when begging him like this, Luther didn't accept to give her back the blanket. He knew that her temperature wouldn't lower down if she kept herself hiding under that cover and that would only aggravate her situation.

"I'm coming back with the Ibuprofen and a glass of water!" He went back to the bathroom and grabbed the bottle of Ibuprofen pills for Frankie with a glass of water. At least she didn't refuse the pills and swallowed them, grimacing in pain.

"You'll feel better in a few hours. Now get back to sleep, I'll cook dinner, and if you hungry later, I'll prepare you a chicken broth ok?" She nodded at him, quickly shutting her eyes after he departed her bedroom.

Luther returned downstairs to prepare the dinner, at least for him, he knew Frankie would probably end up sleeping for the rest of the evening, and that was quite good with him. At least he knew that she was upstairs in her bedroom and that she wouldn't really think of going out this weekend with that sickness. 

A few hours later, Luther ended up checking on Frankie and he wasn't surprised to find out that she had dressed in a sweater and a pair of joggers. He slowly approached her, not wanting to awake her and gently touched her forehead. It did seem that her body temperature had lowered down since the afternoon. She was deeply sleeping and Luther couldn't help enjoying this moment, he couldn't recall the last time Frankie had been this quiet since her arrival at his place.

He returned downstairs and went outside to roll down the garbage cart at the end of his driveway since it was garbage day tomorrow. His brown eyes spotted a black Range Rover parked down the street and for some reason he felt suspicious about this vehicle. Especially since there was someone inside of it with all the lights off. He could clearly see the man sitting in the SUV.

"Who the hell is that?" Luther decided to inspect the vehicle, but as he approached closer toward the vehicle, the Range Rover departed in a hurry its location. Luther clenched his teeth and tried to run after the vehicle but to no avail, he wasn't in shape anymore and the mere fact that he tried to run almost made him sick. He succeeded in catching the license plate's numbers on the black SUV though. He came back inside his house, all shaken up by the encounter with this black vehicle, wondering if Andrew, one of his friend could help with running down a license plate number. He had a feeling this SUV was parked with the only intention of spying on him and Frankie...

He contacted Andrew, and the man informed him he'd come back with the info during the afternoon on the next day, which satisfied Luther. That night Luther ended up sleeping in the living room, afraid that someone would try to break into his house and kidnap Frankie. He didn't sleep that much though, he would open his eyes every hour, making sure Frankie was ok and safe in her bed. He even went outside several times during the night to see if the black SUV was still there, but he didn't see it again. He hoped that it would stay that way.

The next morning, Luther could feel the tiredness invading him, he even made a long nap in the living room with Frankie who had also fallen asleep due to her sickness while watching a movie during the morning, they both woke up when Luther's smartphone rang. Lost and confused, Luther grabbed the smartphone and spoke to the man at the other end of the line.

"Hi Luther, it's Andrew... I raw down the plate and it belongs to a man named Ethan Hunt, Caucasian Male born in 1964. Anyway, I got his picture, would you like me to send it to you?" Luther was speechless over the phone, knowing well that the man he had seen in the vehicle wasn't Ethan at all.

"No Andrew, that will be fine, nothing to worry about I guess." He ended his call with Andrew and returned his gaze on Frankie who was looking at him.

"Who was it?" Demanded Frankie while rubbing her eyes. He shook his head not really wanting to tell her that a man had spied on them last night.

"Nothing Frankie... How are you feeling anyway?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Tired and still got that sore throat. I didn't sleep well last night, I ended up dreaming about Lane again, but this time he had sent someone else after me."

Even though Luther didn't really care for his dreams, he became intrigued by Frankie's last dream...

"Probably that fever of yours. Sometimes a fever gives us weird dreams... Now come here, how about a chicken broth, would you like this?"

She nodded her head and followed Luther to the kitchen to eat with him some of that chicken broth...


	5. Shivers

Her eyes opened slowly, awakening with a throbbing headache. She didn't know what time it was, but she remembered she had eaten chicken broth with Luther a few hours ago. She could tell it was late as the sun had already hidden behind the house next to Luther's, meaning that it was probably around 6 PM. Did she really care? Not at all, she didn't feel well since the day before yesterday and she would take advantage of that moment she had for herself...

She cautiously sat up in her bed, feeling the annoying pain in her head due to a headache. She brought her right hand to her forehead to see if she was still feverish, she was boiling hot without a doubt and even though she knew it wasn't a good idea, she just wanted to head to the bathroom and take a hot shower...

She stepped out of her bed and walked toward her chest of drawers. She pulled the bottom drawer and rummaged for a pyjama, one that would keep her warm once she would get out of the shower. She was aware that it wasn't the brightest idea and that it would probably aggravate her fever, but she was cold, and the coldness had awakened her. She wanted to go back to bed and sleep for the whole night without being interrupted by anyone or anything.

Once she had chosen her favorite pajama and underwear, Frankie opened the door of her bedroom and stepped out in the hall on the second floor.

"Luther?!" She called for his name but got no response. She called his name a second time, and yet, no response.

"Oh well..." He was probably out thought Frankie. She knew that sometimes Luther liked to go out for a walk after dinner time as a way to keep himself in shape.

She pushed the bathroom door and put down her pajama and underwear on the counter in the bathroom before undressing herself, getting rid of the pajamas she had been wearing since last night. Opening the laundry basket, the short-haired woman tossed her pink nightgown in it and entered in the shower, sliding the glass doors before turning on the hot water.

She closed her blue eyes and opened out her mouth as she let the heat of the water sliding down on her warm skin.

"Oh my god, I'm so going to regret it..." She washed her blonde hair under the rain showerhead while keeping her eyes shut. It was the first time since a while that Frankie wasn't in a rush to take a shower, because she knew that once she would get out of the shower, she'd tremble like crazy due to her fever.

She spent a good amount of time in the shower, making sure she'd at least regret it for something. When she turned off the faucet, she immediately disapproved of her choice of taking a hot shower. She was shaking like never before, which pushed her to rapidly dried her wet body with the towel. She took the time to apply her body lotion over her body before slipping on her underwear and her white two pieces pajamas.

She gazed down at her small feet and realized she wouldn't mind a pair of socks as well to cover her cold feet. Gently pulling the bathroom door, Frankie headed back to her room and noticed that Luther wasn't yet back from his walk. She couldn't tell if he was gone since a while, but it was almost 7 PM, and she knew Luther's habits. He wasn't the kind of man to walk in the dark outside... She sighed and checked out for a pair of socks in her drawer before pulling them in her feet.

She sat at the edge of her bed for a moment, wondering if she should be worried for Luther. She bit her bottom lip and convinced herself that Luther had probably ended up doing a long walk.

The young woman descended the staircase to grab herself a glass of water down at the kitchen, but she stopped dead in her track when the presence of a stranger in the kitchen startled her. He was sitting down at the table, with his strong arms crossed over his chest. She swallowed loudly, frozen on her feet, not really comprehending what was happening.

"I'm afraid Luther isn't here with us my child!"

As he opened his lips to let out words that Frankie's brain didn't catch as rapidly as it would have in normal circumstances, the young woman knew that this guy wasn't here to protect her... She could feel the threatening tone in his voice, and his strong physical appearance intimidated her. Even though he was sitting at the table, she could well see that he was tall...

She tried to focus on what she could do to save herself. She was by herself in this house, and Luther wasn't there to protect her. The thought of running downstairs to the basement crossed her mind, the door could be locked and she could probably escape by the small window located in the basement. It was impossible for a man like this stranger to be able to pass by this window thought Frankie. She was running out of time and didn't have several options offered to her. She slowly walked away from the sitting man, wondering what he had in mind for her. She kept her blue eyes glued on him, watching every moves coming from him. When he finally stood up to his full height, Frankie discovered that she was of no match for this man. Her heart was racing rapidly behind her chest and without any hesitation, Frankie took the decision of running downstairs, hoping that she'd reach the basement before him... 

It felt like an eternity before arriving down in the dim litted basement, where she locked herself, blocking the entrance to the intruder. What if there was another man with him? She clenched her teeth and tried to gain back her breath. She passed her hand in her short hair, realizing it was still wet from her shower. She rushed herself to the small window she had used to enter back into the house 3 days ago. sliding the window, Frankie stepped on the plastic box to attain the window that was almost touching the ceiling of the basement. Her eyes enlarged quickly when she spotted the tall man breaking down the wooden basement door.

The expression on his face tensed up, and Frankie panicked as he approached her. She almost fell down the plastic box but managed to get her upper body out of the basement, her legs still dangling in the air as she had a hard time sliding herself out of the window due to her lack of strength. Her body became stiff when his hairy right arm seized her like an insignificant rag doll. He tried to pull her back in the basement, but Frankie screamed as much as she could for help, wondering if her neighbors had heard her to begin with. She couldn't fight back against him and there was no way she would escape that window, even by digging her fingernails deep in the ground, she wasn't capable to run away from him. He finally pulled her back in the basement and Frankie felt his large hand covering her trembling lips.

"I gotcha now! Did you really think you were going to run away from me?" Her eyes filled up with tears as she kept her gaze locked on his face.

He finally took away his hand from her mouth and Frankie begged him to let her go.

"Please, let me go, I won't tell anyone. I'm very sick!! Please!!" She begged him so hard, that she ended up crying as he still held her against him with just one arm, while his other hand was searching for something in his jacket pocket. 

"Stop moving, will you? It won't be long...I promise you, I'm not going to hurt you!" His deep voice once again petrified her, even if he informed her that he wouldn't hurt her. That was until she caught view of the injection pen in his left hand, that's when a last burst of energy took possession of her and that Frankie aggressively sank her teeth on the skin around his wrist, sending the man in pain. He obviously couldn't hold her back as she violently bit his wrist, freeing her from his grip, allowing the small woman to run back upstairs and escape through the main entrance of the house.

"Damn little brat!!!" He exclaimed loudly. Frankie quickly escaped by the main entrance and ran toward the bushes, rummaging through the small trees for her BMX, alas it wasn't there anymore. She couldn't believe it, was it Luther who had taken the bike away? She didn't know and quite frankly she didn't have a lot of time to even think about this useless detail.

Her only hope was to escape this man by running away from Luther's house as fast she could. She needed to find a crowded area like a shopping center or at least a convenience store from her neighborhood where she could call the cops and explain to them that she was in danger. She didn't run far though, thanks for her illness, her fever had drained a lot of her energy and she knew she wouldn't be able to run forever without getting tired. That's when she recalled that the hospital wasn't far from Luther's house and that if she kept running for another ten minutes, she'd reach the facility in no time.

That was until she stopped running to breathe, and realized that the man hadn't given up on her. She could see him running close to her and there wasn't anything else she could do aside from running.

She shook her head in disbelief and cried out for help again... But as she wasted her time yelling for help, the man was indeed getting nearby her. She gathered all the energy she could pull from her frailed body and ran in direction of another street, where she finally escape his sight. Which gave Frankie plenty of time to hide underneath a SUV. She quietly observed from underneath the SUV what was going on and spotted the man running by the SUV. She felt a relief when she glanced at his silhouette distancing away from her hiding location. She shut her eyes for a moment and breathed rapidly as she felt her heart pounding through her chest. Tears rolled down her warm cheeks as she passed a trembling hand through her blonde hair. She didn't want to get out from underneath the SUV. She was afraid he'd find her again and hurt her...

An hour had passed until Frankie had to get out from underneath the SUV. The ground had become cold, and her fever had indeed gotten worse, sending her shaking uncontrollably. She was aware that returning to Luther's house would endanger her, and to be honest she had no idea where to go. The hospital was still her best bet, and she knew she wasn't far from there, but she was frightened that the man would find her back before she could reach for the medical facility.

She stood back on her feet and looked around her to see if the man was still there. The street did seem to be empty, she walked in the street, detached and lost. She didn't know if Luther was alright, but she doubted he was ok... She walked for what it seemed like an hour until she spotted a police car nearby a school.

"Oh my god, thank you!" She drifted away toward the Ford Taurus car and almost cried of joy from the comforting sight of the patrol vehicle.

"Please help me!!" A man stepped out of the Police car and grinned at her. The young woman stopped dead in her track as she recognized the man with a mustache.

"Well, hello there Frankie! Did I miss you?" She shook her head, trying to deny that this was the same man. How did he know she'd pass by there? Backing off from him, Frankie once again ran away from him. Just wearing a pair of socks, the young woman felt the pavement of the street underneath her feet. She turned left and stepped on an empty baseball field, thinking that she'd be able to escape from the man's sight.

A sharp pain violently took her down as Frankie tripped down on a broken beer bottle that she hadn't seen in the dark on the baseball field. The sharp glass cut through her socks, injuring her foot at the same time.

"Oops!" He said before bending down to her bleeding foot.

"Looks like you injured yourself!" He stroked his mustache and lifted her foot in the air to have a better view of it. She couldn't bear the pain inside her anymore. She was tired, sick, and injured. She was at the mercy of this man, whom she had no idea of who he was and what he wanted, but as he gently lifted up her foot and pulled out the broken piece of glass, Frankie felt a certain relief.

"Please, don't hurt me!" Her lips curled in distress, trying to hold on her tears inside her. Not able to get back on her feet, Frankie watched with rapt attention as the man's face leaned close to her. She could almost catch the aroma of his masculine perfume. 

His thumb traced the line of her jaw lightly before he lifted her chin up with just his thumb. She gasped in fear and felt her whole body trembling under his threatening look in his pale blue eyes.

"Well, I didn't think it would be this hard... I underestimated you, Frankie. For a little woman, you sure as hell got some nerves!" She was paralyzed on the ground, and the next thing she knew, she felt the cold needle from the injection pen piercing her neck. He had probably injected her a sedative as Frankie felt a soothing relief over her pain residing in her. Her eyelids became very heavy and she wasn't able to speak normally. The words coming out of her lips were inaudible...

He picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the police car. She kept fighting with herself, in order to stay awake, but the drug injected into her quickly affected her and Frankie ended up closing her eyes as Walker installed on the back seat.

"There you go, I told you it wouldn't hurt you... It will even do you some good!" He smirked when he watched her falling asleep on the leather back seat. Pulling out his smartphone, Walker took a picture of the young woman and sent it to Lane to announce him that he had captured Frankie Hunt...


	6. The Policy of Truth

He entered his place, beaming with joy, content to see that his lower back was less painful than last week. He headed for the kitchen and poured himself a glass of orange juice before getting upstairs to check on Frankie.

"You won't believe it, Frankie, it was better today! No pain at all.." He exclaimed, pushing Frankie's bedroom door.

"Frankie?" She was obviously not hiding under the covers. Luther returned to the hall and checked in the bathroom. He could tell she had taken her shower though, the bathroom was still having this humid air trapped in there.

"Frankie? Where are you?" She couldn't be far, thought Luther. She was sick and he really doubted she would have gotten outside.

He sighed, not pleased with what was happening.

"I swear Frankie, you better have a good reason!" Luther returned downstairs to the living room, but Frankie wasn't there, and the TV was still on. Almost on his way outside, Luther stopped by the basement staircase and spotted the basement door that had been broken down in pieces.

"Frankie????" He rushed himself downstairs, but to no avail, Frankie wasn't in there... But he observed that the basement window had been opened. He tried to reconstruct the scenario in his mind. Frankie had probably tried to lock herself in the basement and escape by the window since there was the plastic box on the ground, just underneath the window.

He just couldn't call the cops, and explain to them that Frankie had probably been kidnapped. He didn't really feel like calling Ethan either and explaining to him that his niece had been kidnapped.

"Fuck!! I shouldn't have left her alone!!" He felt guilty and really believed that nothing would've happened if he had stayed with Frankie. He had no choice, he had to call Ethan and reveal him what had happened.

Using the smartphone Ethan had given him, Luther dialed the number and waited for Ethan to take the call.

"Yes, Luther?"

The black man sighed loudly, exasperated by the whole thing.

"Ethan, you won't be happy. Frankie disappeared! I came back home and she wasn't in her bed anymore..."

He shut his brown eyes, wondering how Ethan would react. No, he knew how Ethan would react and that's why he wasn't too keen on calling him at first.

"What do you mean in bed, it's like dinner time for you??"

"Ethan, she's sick since two days. She went to bed in the afternoon and I decided to go out for a walk tonight. When I came back, she wasn't there anymore. I did check my house, and she's nowhere to find. What I do now?"

"Ok Luther, listen to me, there's nothing you can do right now. I'll find her, I'm going to contact Hunley right away, and he'll release some of his agents to search for Frankie. Stay home and wait, Luther, I'll keep you updated. It's not your fault, ok?"

Even though Ethan reassured him, Luther could feel the stress building up in Ethan's voice. He felt guilty and knew it wouldn't have happened if he had stayed with her... Ethan ended the conversation with Luther, and the big man almost fell down on his soft couch, worried for the young woman...

It didn't take long for Hunley to knock at Luther's door. He invited the secretary of the IMF inside his cozy house, not really knowing where to start. He hated Hunley, even though he had joined the IMF, he just couldn't stand this man, still wondering why he had given up a big career at the CIA for the IMF.

"Hi, Mr. Stickell. I've chosen the best agents out there to find Ethan's daughter!" Luther cocked his head to the side when Hunley referred to Frankie as Ethan's daughter.

"Did you inform of your agents that she was Ethan's daughter?" Demanded Luther while narrowing his dark eyes at Hunley.

"Of course I did, we're looking for someone in here. An important person as far as I'm concerned!"

Luther snorted at Hunley, knowing well he was a real cretin.

"You don't get it, don't you? Frankie isn't aware that Ethan is her father, he's never told her about it because he wants to protect her. Now that you told your agents about it, the information could end up in bad hands! It wouldn't be a great idea either for Frankie to learn this from someone else than Ethan, don't you think?"

Hunley didn't seem preoccupied with the fact that Frankie was oblivious to the fact that Ethan was her father and not her uncle.

"Luther? Do I look like Jerry Springer in here? I don't have time for details of this sort. We want to find Frankie Hunt and as fast as we can. Now, you're sure that she's been kidnapped? Ethan informed me that she had in mind to go back to Las Vegas, perhaps she decided she's had enough of her life in here..."

Luther shook his head, exasperated by Hunley.

"She's sick since two days, I really doubt she packed her bag for Las Vegas."

Luther stroke his bald head as Hunley pulled out a notepad from his jacket.

"Alright, what was she wearing before you left her?"

Luther placed his hands on his large hips, wondering if that was a joke. He looked down at Hunley as if he was an ignorant bastard.

"What was she wearing? She was sleeping, she was probably wearing a pajama, I think it was blue... Look, I don't know how you'll find her, but I know one thing. There's a man with a black Range Rover that was parked across the street two days ago. He did seem suspicious when I approached his car one night, he left in a hurry... Perhaps this detail is more important than asking me what was she wearing!"

Luther sighed again, louder this time, hoping Hunley had caught it. He was annoyed by this man, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Luther? It could be Lane again..."

He stared at Hunley, fearing the worse for Frankie. He then remembered that the Range Rover parked nearby his house belonged to Ethan Hunt from what his police friend had suggested him after running the license plate number. 

"OMG! That's not Ethan!!!" His eyes widened in shock, realizing that the man he had been speaking too over the phone for the last few weeks wasn't Ethan. He had received the smartphone 3 weeks ago exactly, which meant that it probably wasn't even Ethan who had sent this device, but someone else, simply to check on Luther's and Frankie's whereabouts.

"What do you mean it wasn't Ethan?" Hunley expressed a confused gaze as Luther exclaimed out that it wasn't Ethan.

"Alan? Ethan does have a black Range Rover, but the man I saw inside the Range Rover this week, it wasn't Ethan. I do think Ethan is in danger. He was after Lane in Europe, right?"

Hunley pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek before speaking up.

"He was... You think Lane got him?"

Luther nodded his head, headed to the kitchen to sit down a bit before he'd collapse down. Hunley followed him a few seconds after.

"It's all clear now... The man I was speaking with, wasn't Ethan... It was Lane! Jesus fuck! I've failed hard, Ethan will never forgive me!"

Hunley stood there, not even moving at all. His blue eyes frozen on the basket of fruits on the table.

"We have a serious problem in here... If Ethan and Frankie have been captured by Lane, I will have to set up a team of agents and start a new mission. We can't afford to lose Ethan!"

Luther narrowed his eyes at Hunley when he mentioned he couldn't afford to lose Ethan.

"What about Frankie?"

Hunley cleared his throat before speaking.

"Now, our main concern is Agent Hunt, once we find him, we'll focus on Frankie!"

Luther clenched his teeth, wondering if he really had heard Hunley saying these words. Unfortunately, he had! His right fist clenched rapidly and he punched Hunley straight on his face, breaking his nose at the same time.

"You're a fucking asshole Hunley! If you don't get a team up for Frankie as well, I'm going to do it myself and look for this child until I die!!"

Hunley had fallen down on the kitchen floor, moaning in pain as he tried to cover his nose with his hands to avoid staining his suit since the blood was gushing out of his nose...

Luther was seen leaving his house while Hunley was trying to recover from the hit he had received from Luther.


	7. A cry in the night

Lane had indicated Walker where to meet up with Frankie, but when an unknown man shown up at the warehouse Lane had told him to go, Walker began to grow suspicious.

"Where's Lane?" He demanded the tall Russian man. 

"The girl!" Asked the Russian man. Walker snorted at the man, shaking his head in disagreement.

"No, that's not how it works. I was supposed to meet Solomon Lane, not some mediator!"

The Russian man cracked his fingers and approached Walker to intimidate him.

"Really? You think I'm scared of you? I'm not here to fight, I'm here to do business. If you don't have my money, I'm not giving you the girl... Simple as this!"

Walker breathed out loudly as he explained to the man that he wouldn't give Frankie without getting his hands on the money.

"I don't have the money with me, Lane is the one who'll transfer you the money."

August tilted his head to the side, still not agreeing with the 6'4" man.

"Nah, I don't think so... Now you're gonna go back to Lane and you'll tell him that I want the money at the exact same time that I'm giving you the girl... No Money, No Girl!"

The Russian man winked at Walker and the next thing August knew, he was being shot at from afar. The Russian man then pulled out his gun as well and aimed at Walker, but missed him as Walker ran away, not wanting to be shot at.

August rapidly rushed back inside the Range Rover, avoiding the rain of bullets intended for him. When the CIA Agent returned inside his vehicle, the Russian Man yelled at his other men that were hiding near the warehouse to stop shooting at the vehicle since Frankie was in there.

Walker was fuming as he departed the location of the warehouse, teeth clenched and anger plastered all over his face. It did seem that Lane had tried to double-cross him. August hated to be used this way and he felt like Lane had used him to achieve what he had in mind, but without paying for the job. If that's what Lane had in mind, Walker would make sure he'd never get his hands on the young woman as a way to punish him.

He drove as far as he could, in order to escape the Russian man and his other men. Walker decided to stop at the motel he had previously stayed the night before and parked his SUV nearby the outdoor pool. He knew she was awake, he could hear her breathing faster and he didn't know what to do anymore with her. His plan hadn't turned like it was supposed to. Unfastening his seatbelt, Walker glanced at the young woman lying on the backseat, trembling and obviously not feeling good at all. He recalled when she told him that she was sick, and he realized that she was probably cold.

"Please, bring me back home, I won't tell anyone. Please... I'm so cold!"

She was begging him to bring her back home, but August knew that once he would return Frankie to Luther, she'd probably reveal Hunt who had kidnapped her... He shook his head at Frankie and he saw the deception in her blue eyes. Tears began to stream down her warm cheeks and Walker knew at that very moment that he should've refused Lane's job. Stepping out of his SUV, Walker looked in the trunk for a blanket or something big enough that would cover Frankie, in order to keep her warm. Once he had found a small white cover, Walker returned to a tied Frankie and put it on the trembling woman that was still crying. 

Shutting the rear door, Walker stood outside, checking around him, making sure he was alone and that no one had followed him. He dialed the number to reach Lane on his secure line and waited for the man in glasses to pick up the call.

"Here you are... You didn't give him the girl Walker, why is this?"

Walker snorted, not amused at all by Lane's words.

"Are you kidding, did you try to double-cross me, Lane? Where's the money? Did you really think I was going to give you the girl without getting the money?"

Lane's raspy annoying voice echoed all over Walker's smartphone as he treated Walker badly.

"You're a coward Walker! My men said that you ran away with the girl!"

He couldn't believe it, Walker had heard enough! Doing business with Lane, was this time a real disaster.

"I ran away with her because your men were shooting at me for Christ sake. They wanted me dead in order to get the girl without paying me, you think I haven't seen your little game Lane?"

Lane could be heard chuckling behind his phone, ridiculing Walker.

"Now, what are you going to do with the girl? You're stuck with her. Imagine if Sloane found out that you kidnapped Ethan's niece, you can say goodbye to your career at the CIA... Still there, Agent Walker?"

It was true though, he was stuck with Frankie and there's nothing he could do unless he'd try to win her trust and release her by after, hoping she'd never say a thing about him...

"I'm still there Lane... And you know what, forget about her, I'm going to hide her somewhere! If you warn Sloane about our business, you can rest assured that I'll find you and kill you Lane!"

Lane couldn't help mocking August as this last one revealed what he had in mind for Frankie.

"Oh, You want to hide her? If I were you, I'd be careful Walker, don't fall for her, you could regret it! She's not on the same side and you know it. She knows who you are by now!"

Having heard enough, Walker hung up on Lane and tossed the smartphone on the ground before stumping onto it with his heavy boots, breaking it into pieces.

Walker returned to the vehicle and checked on Frankie. She was holding the cover high over her. Only her face was visible at this point, and she had stopped crying. He could tell she was very ill from her droopy eyes and pale lips. He knew that what he was about to do, would either work or not. When he extended his arm at her forehead to touch it with his large hand, the young woman jerked as he brushed her boiling forehead, he didn't blame her though... It didn't take long for her to restart the same song, once again begging him to bring her back home.

"Ok, listen to me Frankie, I get it. You're sick, you're scared of me but know one thing, I won't hurt you, ok? I can't bring you back home for now! It's too dangerous. Now, how about we return on the road and find a nice place for the rest of the night? You'll be able to get some rest and even eat something if of course, you do feel like it... Is that ok with you?"


	8. Trying not to love you

Her foot was hurting her so badly, she could still feel the remaining pieces of glass stuck under her foot. She was tied, dressed in a blue pajama, lying in the backseat of this SUV, with only a white thin sheet to keep herself warm. The man had explained to her that he couldn't return her home, because it was too dangerous. She wasn't stupid though, she knew why he didn't want to release her. He was afraid she'd talk and tell everyone about him. She had no idea what he'd do with her, but she'd rather hoped that her uncle or Luther would show up at some point and save her...

"Did they try to shoot you earlier, when we were at this warehouse? Why would they do this?"

The bullets fired at Walker had awakened her abruptly when Walker stopped at the warehouse to trade Frankie for his bag of money. She caught the embarrassment in his blue eyes when she demanded him the reason. 

"They try to shoot me because it wasn't the deal offered in the first place. Too bad now, the deal is over..."

She rolled her eyes, curious to know what was the deal about, but Frankie decided to keep it shut this time. She wanted him to trust her and she was aware that pissing him off or being too nosy wouldn't help her in being released in the first place.

She just couldn't wait for this man to arrive at their destination, if there was one, to begin with, she had one of this urge to piss. She wasn't hungry though, her throat was so sore that a big ice popsicle would be sufficient for her.

As he kept driving in the dark of the night, Frankie scrutinized him from head to toe, noticing his thick thighs. Not only he did seem to be quite in shape, but for some odd reason, she admitted to herself that he was quite of a hunk of a man... Especially with that mustache... Perhaps it was the fever making her hallucinating things... Maybe, he wasn't that hot? She didn't care at all. She was safe for now and would enjoy this moment until it would end...

An hour passed until Frankie decided to address to Walker.

"If you're not bringing me home, where are you bringing me now? Another deal?"

She heard him snorting, and once again his deep voice kinda soothed her pain.

"Nope, I told you. It's over. I'm bringing you somewhere and I'll think of something... Now, why don't you return to sleep?"

She rose an eyebrow when he suggested her to go back sleeping. She snorted at her turn and stuck her tongue out at him. He, of course, hadn't seen her grimace, since his eyes were focused on the road.

"I can't sleep, my right foot hurt me. Remember, I injured myself with that beer bottle. And plus I'm tied, which make it quite hard to sleep in a comfortable position..." She smirked, knowing quite well that he wasn't in the mood to speak with her. She could feel the tension in the air.

"Alright, I get it. Once we'll arrive at the place, I will take care of your foot. Now as for being tied, you think I have the choice. I damn know that if I take the rope off, you'll run away from me.."

She curled her lips downward, not really thinking she'd do any of what he told her.

"Where would I run anyway? It looks like we're in the middle of nowhere, and like I said my foot is injured, and I'm sick... I'd rather stay with you unless you have the intention to hurt me.."

She felt the vehicle braking quickly and watched as the man stepped out to reach the rear door. She sat up on the backseat, not really knowing what he had in mind.

"Ok, listen to me, Frankie! I get it... But don't force me to put a piece of duct tape over your mouth! Can you just keep quiet for the remaining of the trip? It's all I'm asking you, ok?"

She nodded her head, realizing that he was deadly serious and that she was annoying him. He was standing tall, looking down at her. She couldn't help staring down at his crotch for a quick moment.

"Fine, I'll stay quiet, but can you at least untie me? I would like to get some sleep!" She watched him headed to the trunk of the SUV to retrieve an item. He came back to her with a rather large knife and grasped the rope keeping her ankles together, he pulled her toward him as if she was weightless. She gasped, not expecting at all to be pulled of that sort toward him. Once again, Frankie couldn't help glancing down at his strong hands as he used both of them to cut the ropes from her ankles and wrists with the knife.

She kept looking at him as he got back to his full height, not moving at all, even though she was free from the ropes.

"Don't make me regret it, Frankie!" He then shut the rear door and returned behind the wheel. Like she had promised him, Frankie stood still and quiet during the remaining of the trip. Even though she lay back on the leather backseat, Frankie wasn't capable to get back to sleep... She just couldn't take off her eyes from him. A smirk spread on her lips when she realized all the possibilities offered to her... 

She didn't know what time it was when the SUV finally entered in a private driveway of what seemed like a modern cottage, but she knew one thing, she couldn't wait to use a shower and the toilet, and as well get some sleep in a comfy bed. When Walker stopped the engine of the vehicle, Frankie shut her eyes, pretending to be asleep to see what he'd do. Since her eyes were shut, she couldn't see what was going on, but she was hearing everything.

"Frankie?" He called her name, but the young woman kept fooling Walker. She then felt him grabbing her injured foot, she didn't know what he was up to though. She merely opened an eye to see what he was up to, he was just checking her wound. She closed back her eye and this is when She felt Walker lifting her up in his arms. Even though she didn't want to admit it to herself, this whole kidnapping thing was rather exciting! She leaned her head against his chest and enjoyed the warmness coming from his jacket. Few seconds after he had entered the small cottage, Walker put her down on a couch and covered her with a blanket he had retrieved from one of the bedrooms. At least this is what she concluded as she opened of her eyes after he had installed her on the soft couch.

She waited for Walker to leave her, which she tried to determine by listening to his footsteps. Once she was certain that he was gone, Frankie opened her eyes and was caught short when Walker was sitting across her on another couch in the living room.

"Well, are you done with your little games? Did you really think you had fooled me, Frankie?" He smirked back at her, and the young woman's face turned into a crimson red as Walker had outsmarted her. She narrowed her blue eyes at Walker and pretended not knowing what he was talking about.

"Why would I try to fool you?" She caught Walker snorting at her as he stood up away from the couch.

"Oh please, you were pretending to sleep in the back seat..."

Frankie rolled her eyes at the Agent before elaborating on how he was wrong.

"Why would I pretend to sleep? Really, that's the stupidest thing I've heard!"

Walker didn't seem to be convinced by Frankie's words though.

"You want me to tell you why you were pretending to sleep?"

She sat up on the couch, and looked up at him with a cocky attitude, trying to show Walker that she wasn't the kind of woman to fool around like this... Until he approached her again and lowered down to her level. She stared at him straight in his blue eyes and watched him with rapt attention. When Walker strongly grasped her both wrists and pulled her closer to him while he stood up to his full height, the young woman's eyes widened in shock while Walker put her back on her both feet. She cried in pain when she put all her weight on her injured foot, even though she was crying, Walker kept holding her wrists in just one of his hand, forcing her to stay up.

"Now, you're not pretending. I can see how genuine your emotions are! You're in pain, which is why you're crying... When I took you in my arms, you were breathing a little faster than a sleeping person, which indicated me that you weren't really sleeping, but just in the need of some tenderness, right Frankie?"

She didn't care what he was saying, she had aggravated her injury by putting weight on her foot, and she wasn't in the mood anymore for joking around. He finally released his grip from her wrists and Frankie fell back on the couch, checking on her foot to see how serious it was. He then came back with a first aid kit to disinfect her foot and fixed it.

"Don't touch me!" She snapped at him as he sat next to her on the couch. He wasn't really impressed by her attitude and she knew it.

"It's up to you. If you want to keep that piece of glass in your foot... But you know what will happen if I don't do anything with your foot?"

"I know what will happen!!! Just leave me alone for now, it hurts!!" She said while drying her tears with the back of her hand.

" I won't hurt you! The faster it will be done, the better it will be for everyone." It's not as if she had the choice after all. She nodded at him, looking up at his face with her straight lips.

It took around 25 minutes for Walker to disinfect the wound and stitch it. He had also wrapped a bandage around her foot, so she'd be able to walk on her feet. He then offered Frankie to use the bathroom for whatever she had in mind, either it was taking a bath or simply using the toilet to relieve herself.

"Feel free to take a bath, I will bring you some fresh clothes if you wish and I'll cook something to eat if you feel like joining me in the kitchen."

She didn't thank him for her foot, oh no, she was still pissed that he had found out about the way she felt about him. She hadn't fooled him, and she was infuriated with herself and toward him as well.

"I'll take a bath for sure..." She said, avoiding at all cost his eyes...

"Fine, I'll bring you fresh new clothes, they'll be on the bathroom counter."

She waited until Walker came back and indicated where was the bathroom. When she entered the small bathroom, she noticed a folded shirt on the counter, probably belonging to him. She had almost forgotten the pain from her foot as she brought the white shirt to her nose to catch the wooden manly aroma emanating from the tissue. She used the toilet and took a bath, making sure to leave her injured foot out of the water. She then dried herself with the towel and dressed up with his long white shirt. There was a plastic bag as well, which she used to put on her nightgown and undies that needed to be washed.

She slowly opened the bathroom door and spotted him eating at the kitchen table. She was somehow embarrassed to wear his sweater, especially since she wasn't wearing any undies underneath it...

"I'm going to sleep, I'm tired!" She added nonchalantly. Walker then explained to her that he had a spare bedroom at the end of the hall, but she told him that she was fine on the couch. It couldn't be worse than the backseat of a car...


End file.
